D&D 5E D&D Next playtest post mortem by Mike Mearls and Rodney Thompson. From seven years ago.

[MwaO]

Except saving throws. 4e did half level + mod + class/race bonus (usually 0 to 3) to defenses. 5e does mod + proficiency bonus for proficient saves and mod only for nonproficient saves. So you can wind up with your best save at +11 or better and your worst at -1.

You also have twice as many saves to worry about.

Right. Where 5e doesn't use 4e/2 math, it is usually something of a disaster within the system at higher levels. All saves should go up by +4 from 1-20, both on player and monster side, so levels 9-20 work better and less rocket tag.

 

[Haplo781]

Right. Where 5e doesn't use 4e/2 math, it is usually something of a disaster within the system at higher levels. All saves should go up by +4 from 1-20, both on player and monster side, so levels 9-20 work better and less rocket tag.

+1 to all saving throws per tier increase gives a +3. Just need to squeeze in another +1.

 

[MwaO]

+1 to all saving throws per tier increase gives a +3. Just need to squeeze in another +1.

You just give a boost at every proficiency +1 step. So 5, 9, 13 and 17.

 

[Minigiant]

Spelliammer doesn’t really have nostalgia for itself. If you’ve been paying attention it seems nearly nobody buying and exited for it now owned it back in the day.

Many of the people who brought the new Spelljammer book wanted updated rules of the stuff in the original old books.

There must be a word for nostalgia of something you didn't originally experience.

 

[Oofta]

Many of the people who brought the new Spelljammer book wanted updated rules of the stuff in the original old books.

There must be a word for nostalgia of something you didn't originally experience.

Deja stalgia?

 

[James Gasik]

It happens a lot. You hear tales of someone else's nostalgia, and want to experience it for yourself- or at least find out what all the fuss is about.

Example: WotC making new versions of Legendary creatures from 1994 in the Dominaria United set, despite the fact that a very large chunk of their player base might not have even been born when that set came out.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

There must be a word for nostalgia of something you didn't originally experience.

anemoia - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.wiktionary.org

I have a millennial cousin who got this from watching John Hughes movies. She was a prime target for Stranger Things.

 

[Minigiant]

anemoia - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.wiktionary.org

I have a millennial cousin who got this from watching John Hughes movies. She was a prime target for Stranger Things.

That's the word.

WOTC has been invoking nostalgia in old players to fuel anemia amemoia in new players all throughout 5e.

The whole edition has been built on hyping up revision of old content to old players and having those players introduce the concepts to new players via game discussion, YouTube videos, and homebrew.

 

[Hussar]

It's not so much nostalgia as simple name recognition. Lots of people have heard of Spelljammer, maybe seen a thing or two about it somewhere or other, and so, they see a new Spelljammer book and they already know, at least in very broad terms, what it is.

If I release something completely new there isn't any of that, and I have to start completely anew building that brand. Lots of people went to see the Pokemon movie who had never played the game nor watched the show. Heck, the MCU is entirely built on that audience - people who have never even seen a Marvel comic book, but, still, through cultural zeitgeist, know who Iron Man or Thor is.

It's not like the MCU isn't popular in places like China or Japan where Marvel comics and Marvel cartoons might as well not exist. But, people still have heard about these names, so they resonate.

The slow release schedule is absolutely meant to maximize profit. 100%. The fact that it has worked FANTASTICALLY well shows that it's not a bad way to go. Ten years in and we've still got less books for 5e than we had for 4e. Book of the Month style production just doesn't work. Took much chaff. And not enough time for people to adopt ideas and for those ideas to ground themselves in the general awareness. Look at @Minigiant's list of classes for 4e - that was released in what, over a 3 year period? Less? There's just no way anyone would be able to look at, much less play, even a fraction of that. It's totally overwhelming.

So, WotC goes back to the old names - Spelljammer, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, whatever - for that sweet, sweet name recognition. But, instead of shotgunning the market with book after book after book, each one cannibalizing the sales of the other, they make each one a BIG DEAL. Tons of marketing for each and every release. It really is rather impressive.

 

[Hussar]

WOTC has been invoking nostalgia in old players to fuel anemia in new players all throughout 5e.

Best typo ever.